At 18:46 2/12/01 +1100, Terry Collins wrote: >Tony Green wrote: > > > > > Can someone please give me the long/lat for slug-chat???? > >Remember that post on IT balance of trade? >When you consider that the average costs per first installation/seat for >each government department would be over $250,000, plus $10,000 for each >extra office and roughly 20% each year in licence and training fees, >there is a very good reason for development of facilities in Linux.
But do you *really* think that politicians and/or their office staff can be taught to use something like KDE / Gnome / CDE / whatever ? Most of them have trouble with Windows, for crying out loud. Rather than push this way, what we should be doing is; 1. Push for Open Standards in all Government Departments (no more "we only accept WORD 6 format"). If it HAS to have formatting of this type, then possibly RTF is the way to go (don't flame me here - it's the only "standard" that I know works on both platforms other than ASCII, and that's not suitable). 2. Push for SERVERS to be Linux-based - point out the insignificant TCO of having your files stored on a Linux server, whether it appears as a share using SAMBA or as a netware server using MARSNWE (??). 3. Push for acceptance of Linux on the desktop as an ALTERNATIVE to Windows on a personal level - for example, I will always have/have access to a Linux desktop, where my colleagues may choose to use Windows. Make it a PERSONAL option. Yes, there's the argument that "the IT department doesn't know Linux and will not support you". Fine, if I'm using Linux on my DESKTOP, you probably couldn't support me anyway - as long as my documents / spreadsheets / email is compatable with the Windows users. 4. If WINDOWS-based servers are REALLY a necessity, push for Citrix Metaframe - you can acess any Windows app via a browser (works fine with Konqueror / Netscape / Mozilla), and there are Linux clients FREELY AVAILABLE if you don't want to go the browser path (I'm certified in Metaframe and I have to say it makes Windows actually USABLE !!). Yes, I agree that getting Linux on the desktop is the ultimate goal, but given the lack of understanding of Windows by the majority of users, and even those in IT who pretend to understand it, I just don't think Linux is ready for that end of the market yet. Jon -- SLUG - Sydney Linux User Group Mailing List - http://slug.org.au/ More Info: http://lists.slug.org.au/listinfo/slug
